In celebration of my birthday, yesterday I went on my very first hunting trip. First, I want to thank Brad (Brad’s Knives) for taking me out and letting me enjoy the day with him and allowing me to experience the beauty of his family’s property. I’m just weird like that, but I enjoy nothing more than driving through the small towns of Indiana to look at the beautiful land.
We got out there well before sunrise, to get set up. I guess the coyotes didn’t like us infiltrating their territory because two packs of them began to howl and yelp. That was exciting!
I expected to spend a great deal of the day just sitting and watching and really didn’t expect to see much. However, I was wrong! Brad told me that deer can appear at any time, without any notice, but I thought I would hear something! Anyway, about three hours into the hunt, as we were sitting in the stand, Brad whispered, “BUCK! KILL IT!” I couldn’t see a thing and said, “WHERE?!” This is how the rest of the two minutes played out:
Brad: “Right there, about 40 yards!”
Me: “Where?!” (thinking Brad is jerking my chain at this point)
Brad: “I can’t believe you don’t see that huge buck!”
Me: “Where?!”
Brad: “Man, he’s walking off. I can’t believe you didn’t see that Buck.” (Brad starts to call using the buck grunt and doe bleets).
-- about 30 seconds later --
Brad: “Oh my god, he turned around, there he is!!!!”
Me: “Where?! I don't see him!”
Brad: “He’s right in front of you, about 40 yards… don’t move!”
Me: “Man, I don’t see any…” (at this point, I see a set of HUGE eyes looking at me and follow his eyes up to the tips of his rack and then down to his huge torso. He was positioned for the perfect shot, but at this point, he had gone further up the ridge and was now on level with us.
Brad: “Man, that’s the biggest buck I’ve ever seen in this area, I can kill him!”
Me: “Go ahead!”
As Brad started to raise his gun, the buck turned and all I could see at that point was his big white tail waving up and down as he ascended up the ridge and out of sight. Brad was shaking uncontrollably from the intense infusion of adrenaline and I was in shock from disbelief that I did not see that buck, followed by a brief period of depression, followed by embarrassment.
Breaking down the brief moment of action, the buck had come from our rear, at our 5 o’clock, and below our stand when Brad saw him. Brad made me aware as he was entering into some brush, at our 3 o’clock, where he was camouflaged by the time I looked. Because I have “city eyes” the only idea I had of what to look for was from my viewing of the Outdoor Channel, but on there the deer are always in the open and can be easily seen. He kept his nose to the ground (hiding his huge rack), following the does Brad had seen earlier, while we were separate. Yeah, I’ve seen deer on the road, but I’ve never seen a deer as tall as this one and it wasn’t brown, but gray!!! How in the world was the freaking thing gray?! I guess he was old.
By the time Brad called for the Buck, he really didn’t expect him to react since it was tracking the does, but he turned around to investigate the calls. Unfortunately, he came back down on the same level as us, at our 1 o’clock and was looking us straight into our eyes…BUSTED!
I didn’t see much of that buck, but his face is engrained in my memory. He looked just like the buck on the Hornady box, but his rack was larger. I would love to have taken him…or anything for that matter, but it was my first time out and was still a great experience.
When I awoke this morning, I thought I had dreamed the whole thing, but no, it is an existing reality that the “Gray Ghost” still lives and is laughing at my ignorance and inexperience. Until we meet again, my friend. It was an honor to learn from you.
We got out there well before sunrise, to get set up. I guess the coyotes didn’t like us infiltrating their territory because two packs of them began to howl and yelp. That was exciting!
I expected to spend a great deal of the day just sitting and watching and really didn’t expect to see much. However, I was wrong! Brad told me that deer can appear at any time, without any notice, but I thought I would hear something! Anyway, about three hours into the hunt, as we were sitting in the stand, Brad whispered, “BUCK! KILL IT!” I couldn’t see a thing and said, “WHERE?!” This is how the rest of the two minutes played out:
Brad: “Right there, about 40 yards!”
Me: “Where?!” (thinking Brad is jerking my chain at this point)
Brad: “I can’t believe you don’t see that huge buck!”
Me: “Where?!”
Brad: “Man, he’s walking off. I can’t believe you didn’t see that Buck.” (Brad starts to call using the buck grunt and doe bleets).
-- about 30 seconds later --
Brad: “Oh my god, he turned around, there he is!!!!”
Me: “Where?! I don't see him!”
Brad: “He’s right in front of you, about 40 yards… don’t move!”
Me: “Man, I don’t see any…” (at this point, I see a set of HUGE eyes looking at me and follow his eyes up to the tips of his rack and then down to his huge torso. He was positioned for the perfect shot, but at this point, he had gone further up the ridge and was now on level with us.
Brad: “Man, that’s the biggest buck I’ve ever seen in this area, I can kill him!”
Me: “Go ahead!”
As Brad started to raise his gun, the buck turned and all I could see at that point was his big white tail waving up and down as he ascended up the ridge and out of sight. Brad was shaking uncontrollably from the intense infusion of adrenaline and I was in shock from disbelief that I did not see that buck, followed by a brief period of depression, followed by embarrassment.
Breaking down the brief moment of action, the buck had come from our rear, at our 5 o’clock, and below our stand when Brad saw him. Brad made me aware as he was entering into some brush, at our 3 o’clock, where he was camouflaged by the time I looked. Because I have “city eyes” the only idea I had of what to look for was from my viewing of the Outdoor Channel, but on there the deer are always in the open and can be easily seen. He kept his nose to the ground (hiding his huge rack), following the does Brad had seen earlier, while we were separate. Yeah, I’ve seen deer on the road, but I’ve never seen a deer as tall as this one and it wasn’t brown, but gray!!! How in the world was the freaking thing gray?! I guess he was old.
By the time Brad called for the Buck, he really didn’t expect him to react since it was tracking the does, but he turned around to investigate the calls. Unfortunately, he came back down on the same level as us, at our 1 o’clock and was looking us straight into our eyes…BUSTED!
I didn’t see much of that buck, but his face is engrained in my memory. He looked just like the buck on the Hornady box, but his rack was larger. I would love to have taken him…or anything for that matter, but it was my first time out and was still a great experience.
When I awoke this morning, I thought I had dreamed the whole thing, but no, it is an existing reality that the “Gray Ghost” still lives and is laughing at my ignorance and inexperience. Until we meet again, my friend. It was an honor to learn from you.
Why didn't I think of that?!
to both you and Brad. Bet you are already looking forward to your next hunting expedition!
